Absorbent article

ABSTRACT

An absorbent article having a front part (12), a rear part (14) and an intermediate crotch part (13), such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or like article. The article includes an absorbent body (1), a liquid-impermeable bottom sheet (7) joined to the absorbent body, and a top sheet (9) which is free from connection with the absorbent body over a large part of its surface and which lies proximal to the wearer&#39;s body when the article is worn, and which top sheet includes an opening (15) which extends from the rear article part into the crotch part, and elastic devices (24, 25) which are fastened to the top sheet in a stretched state and which when contracting from the stretched state cause the part of the top sheet that is not joined to the absorbent body to be distanced from the body. The top sheet (9) includes a further opening (16) which extends from the front part (12) into the crotch part (13). A piece (26) of flexible material extends transversely across the article between the absorbent body (1) and the top sheet (9) within that region of the top sheet that lies between the two openings (15, 16), this piece of flexible material being fastened to the absorbent body and to the top sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an absorbent article which has a frontpart, a rear part and an intermediate crotch part, such as a diaper, anincontinence guard or like article, which includes an absorbent body, abottom sheet comprised of liquid-impermeable material and joined to theabsorbent body, and a top sheet which over a large part of its surfaceis free from connection with the absorbent body, i.e. not directlyjoined thereto, and which when the article is worn lies proximal to thewearer's skin, said top sheet including an elongated opening whichextends from the rear article part into the crotch part, and elasticdevices which are attached to the top sheet in a stretched state andwhich when contracting from their stretched state cause that part of thetop sheet which is not joined to the absorbent body to be distanced fromthe absorbent body.

Diapers which are provided with an opening in the top sheet are knownfrom AU-A-45217/85, EP-A2-0,357,298 and EP-A2-0,486,006 and are intendedto avoid irritation of the wearer's skin as a result of excrement cominginto contact with the skin. According to these publications, this isachieved because the absorbent body is brought to a basinlike shape asthe elastic devices provided in the top sheet contract, at the same timeas the top sheet is therewith distanced from the bottom of the basin toform a basin lid or cover which includes an opening. One problem withdiapers of this kind is that the opening provided in the top sheet mustbe sufficiently large and so positioned as to ensure that excrement willfall safely from the wearer down onto the absorbent body. Any excrementthat lands on the top sheet is highly liable to result in leakage andirritation of the skin. It has also been found that the skin is muchmore sensitive to a mixture of urine and faeces, and consequently it isimportant to minimize the risk of such a mixture coming into contactwith the wearer's skin while the article is worn. When urine and faecesmix, ammonia is formed which leads to an increase in pH and also ingreater activity of the faecal enzymes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to ensure that urine and faeceswill fall safely onto the absorbent body, and to prevent the urine andfaeces discharged onto the absorbent body from mixing together. Thisobject is achieved in accordance with the invention with an absorbentarticle of the kind defined in the introduction which is characterizedin that the top sheet also includes a second elongated opening whichextends from the front article part and into the crotch part, and inthat a piece of flexible material extends transversely across thearticle between the absorbent body and the top sheet and within thatarea of the top sheet which lies between the two elongated openings,said piece of material being attached to the absorbent body and the topsheet. The provision of a front opening in the top sheet ensures thaturine discharged from the wearer will fall onto the absorbent body, andthe flexible piece of material forms a barrier which prevents urine fromfalling or running down over that part of the absorbent body onto whichfaeces are discharged and also to prevent faeces from entering that partof the absorbent body onto which urine is discharged. In addition topreventing urine and faeces mixing together, the arrangement alsoprevents faeces from coming into contact with the wearer's genitals.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the absorbentbody includes a liquid-permeable casing sheet on that side thereof whichlies distal from the bottom sheet, and that area of the top sheet whichlies between the two elongated openings is located between the wettingpoint and the faecal discharge point. The side edges of the twoelongated openings diverge from the transverse edges in the crotch part,and the elastic devices in the top sheet extend along the side edges ofthe openings, and the material piece mounted transversely between thetop sheet and the inner casing sheet of the absorbent body is comprisedof a tubular body or member which is connected to the inner casing sheetand the top sheet transversely over a narrow region. The tubular body isadvantageously formed integral with the top sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of one embodiment of an inventivediaper, taken obliquely from above;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the diaper shown in FIG. 1 takenfrom above with the diaper in a flat state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the diaper shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to the view of FIG. 2 and illustrates thebottom sheet and the absorbent body of the diaper shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line V--V in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to the sectionalview of FIG. 3 and illustrates a second embodiment of an inventivediaper; and

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate various variants of the material pieces suitablefor use in an inventive diaper.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The diaper illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 includes an absorbent body 1 whichin the case of the illustrated embodiment is comprised of anhourglass-shaped main body 2 and two side bodies 3, 4. The main body 2is comprised of two sheets 5, 6. The upper sheet 5 and the side bodies3, 4 are comprised of air-laid cellulose fluff. The bottom sheet 6 ispreferably comprised of air-laid cellulose fibres and is preferablycompressed more heavily than the upper sheet 5. Alternatively, thebottom sheet 6 may be comprised of absorbent reel material of the typedescribed in Swedish Patent Application No. 9203445-3, which includes adry-formed sheet containing 5-100% cellulose fibres and has a density ofbetween 0.2-1.0 g/cm³ and a surface weight of between 30-2,000 g/m² andwhich has been formed by compressing a cellulose-fibre containing webwithout subsequent defibration and fluff building. The reader isreferred to the aforesaid patent application for a closer study of thistype of reel material. As will be seen from FIG. 4, the sheet 6 isrectangular in shape and extends beneath only a part of the sheet 5.

The absorbent body 1 is enclosed between an outer casing sheet or bottomsheet 7 of liquid-impermeable material, for instance polyethyleneplastic, and an inner liquid-permeable casing sheet 8, which ispreferably made of nonwoven material. The sheet 8 is preferably similarto the bottom sheet 7 and the sheets are joined together at parts whichlie outside the absorbent body 1. As will best be seen from FIG. 4, theside bodies 3, 4 are located laterally slightly beyond the main body 2,and the casing sheets 7, 8 are joined together in the gap presentedbetween the main body and the side bodies.

The diaper also includes a top sheet 9 which is similar to the casingsheets 7, 8 and is fastened thereto along diaper edge parts, so that thetop sheet over a large part of its surface will be essentially free fromconnection with the absorbent body 1, so that the top sheet can bedistanced from the absorbent body as will be explained below. The topsheet is made from a skin-friendly material and may either beliquid-impermeable or liquid-permeable. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thediaper is provided with leg elastication in the form of elastic devices10, 11 which extend along the side edges in the crotch part 13 and inparts of the front diaper part 12 and the back diaper part 14. In theillustrated case, the elastic devices are comprised of four elasticthreads which have been attached in a stretched state between the bottomsheet 7 and the inner casing sheet 8 and fastened to said sheets. Itwill be understood, however, that the elastic threads may be more orfewer in number and that other types of elastic devices may be used,such as elastic ribbon, film strips having elastic properties, etc. Itwill also be understood that the elastic devices 10, 11 may instead beplaced between the top sheet 9 and the inner casing sheet 8.

The top sheet 9 includes two symmetrical openings, a rear opening 15 anda front opening 16, which are elongated in the longitudinal direction ofthe diaper. That region 17 of the top sheet 9 which lies between theopenings 15, 16 in the longitudinal direction of the diaper is locatedbetween the wetting point and the faecal discharge point. By wettingpoint is meant that area of the diaper within which urine can beexpected to be discharged when the diaper is correctly positioned on thewearer, while by faecal discharge point is meant correspondingly thatregion within which faeces are expected to be deposited when the diaperis positioned correctly, i.e. those regions which lie opposite theurethral orifice and the anus of the wearer respectively, while takinginto account normal variations in the anatomy of the wearer within thewearer's size range for which the diaper is dimensioned. The side edges18, 19 and 20, 21 of respective openings 15 and 16 diverge respectivelyforwardly and rearwardly from the top sheet region 17, and the openingshave arcuate transverse edges 22, 23 which extend slightly from the rearand front end of the absorbent body.

Two elastic threads 24, 25 are attached in a stretched state to the topsheet 9 and extend from the front part of the front diaper part 12 tothe rear part of the rear diaper part 14. The threads 24, 25 extendconvergently towards one another from the front diaper part 12 to theregion 17 of the top sheet 9, along the side edges 20, 21 of the opening16, and then extend along the side edges 18, 19 of the opening 15roughly to the level of the rear edge 22 of the opening 15. In theillustrated embodiment, the threads 24, 25 are attached between the topsheet and narrow nonwoven strips (not shown) which are secured to thethreads and to the top sheet by gluing or in some other suitable way. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the strips are positioned along the fulllength of the threads and the threads are therewith secured to the topsheet along their full lengths. This is not absolutely necessary,however, since the desired function can be achieved by fastening thethreads to the top sheet at their respective ends and at the region 17.

According to one variant, the nonwoven strips are secured to the topsheet along their edges, so as to form elastic-thread guide passages. Inthis case, it is sufficient to fasten the threads to the top sheet atthe ends of the passages. Thus, when the nonwoven strips extend alongthe full length of the threads, it is sufficient to fasten the ends ofthe threads to the top sheet. The threads will preferably extend freelyin these guide passages. The guide passages can be formed by folding thetop sheet in conjunction with cutting-out the openings 15, 16, therewithforming the aforesaid nonwoven strips integrally with the top sheet.

The threads can also be fastened directly to the top sheet by thetechnique known from Swedish Patent Application No. 9304232-3 filed onthe Dec. 21, 1993. This Application describes how elastic elements canbe joined directly to an underlying substrate with the aid ofthermoplastic components which are locked to the elastic elements bymechanical locking or chemical adhesion and which are joined to anunderlying substrate, preferably by ultrasonic welding. The reader isreferred to this last-mentioned Swedish patent application for a closerstudy in this regard.

A tubular body 26 is attached in a flattened state within the region 17of the top sheet between the top sheet and the absorbent body, andextends transversely between the points at which the top sheet isfastened to the casing sheets 7 and 8. The upper and lower side of thetubular body 26 is attached respectively to the top sheet 9 and to theinner casing sheet 8 by means of a join which has a small extension inthe longitudinal direction of the diaper, for instance by means of aglue bead.

FIG. 2 shows the diaper in a flat state, by which is meant the state inwhich the diaper is found during manufacture, the diaper in this statebeing held stretched against the spring force of the elastic devicesmounted thereon. When the finished diaper is released, the elasticdevices 10, 11, 24 and 25 endeavour to contract to a fully relaxed stateand therewith bring the diaper to the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The top sheet 9 is folded and shortened by contraction of the elasticthreads 24, 25. Shortening of the top sheet is enabled by curving of themain body 2 of the absorbent body 1 at the same time as the side bodies3, 4 swing upward about their respective hinges formed by the casingsheets 7, 8 joined in the gap between the side bodies 3, 4 and the mainbody 2 respectively. The top sheet 9 will thus be held distanced fromthe absorbent body 1 by virtue of the action of the elastic threads 24,25.

Because the top side and the bottom side of the tubular body 26 arefastened respectively to the top sheet 9 and to the inner casing sheet 8along a respective narrow string or strand 27 and 28, these parts of thetubular body will also be distanced from one another in a correspondingfashion. This means that the tubular body will be unfolded or raisedfrom its flat state shown in FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, thetubular body is so dimensioned that when the diaper has theconfiguration shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the tubular body will have beenraised so as to be practically almost flattened in the longitudinalsymmetry plane of the diaper in a plane at right angles to said symmetryplane and to the absorbent body, as will best be seen from FIG. 3. Theleft part of FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the diaper in theabsence of load thereon. As will be seen from this Figure, raising ofthe tubular body 26 from its flattened state shown on the right of FIG.5 and in FIG. 2 decreases successively in a direction towards the sideedges of the diaper, i.e. to the left in the left-hand part of FIG. 5.The tubular body of this embodiment will thus have folds to anincreasing extent towards the edges of the diaper. According to onevariant, the tubular body can be given a circumference which decreasessuccessively towards the side edges of the diaper from a central partdelimited by the elastic threads 24, 25.

It is pointed out in this connection that FIG. 1 shows the diaper in theabsence of load and not in its state when worn. The shape of the diaperwhen worn will naturally depend on the anatomy of the wearer and thediaper is so dimensioned as to cause the elastic threads 24, 25 to beslightly stretched when putting on the diaper. However, the length ofthe diaper is such that a large part of the folds or gathers will remainin the top sheet after putting on the diaper, so that the absorbent bodywill be spaced from the top sheet along a greater part of its extension,even when the diaper is in place on the wearer.

Thus, when the diaper is worn, there is located between the absorbentbody and the top sheet a space in which urine and faeces can be heldwithout coming into contact with the wearer's skin. It will beunderstood that the size and the positioning of the rear opening 15 issignificant in ensuring that faeces discharged by the wearer will landin. this space and not on the top sheet, particularly in respect of thefaecal discharge point. It has been found that the distance between theside edges 18, 19 of the opening 15 should be at least 3 cm at thefaecal discharge point, and that the front edge of the opening 15 shouldlie at least 1 cm, and preferably 2 cm, in front of the faecal dischargepoint, and that the front edge should have a length of at least 2 cm.Because the elastic threads 24, 25 exert a spring force in both thelongitudinal and the transverse direction of the diaper, both the frontedge and the side edges 18, 19 of the opening 15 are held stretched whenthe diaper is worn, so as to ensure that the aforesaid distance will beretained. In order to achieve a high stretching effect, the ends of thethreads 24, 25 will preferably lie laterally on the level of the sideedges of the absorbent body 1. The forward opening 16 in the top sheet 9ensures that urine discharged by the wearer will fall directly onto theabsorbent body and can therewith be absorbed immediately by said body.

The tubular body 26 forms a barrier which delimits the spaces beneaththe openings 15, 16 from one another. This prevents urine and faecesmixing together, which would otherwise result in faecal enzymessplitting or cleaving urea in the urine, thereby forming ammonia. Theformation of ammonia would result in an increase in pH, which in turnwould result in increased activity of the enzymes protease and lipase inthe faeces, giving rise to greater irritation of the skin should faecescome into contact therewith. The arrangement also ensures that faecesare unable to land in the space beneath the forward opening 16 andtherewith come into contact with the genitals of the wearer.

In addition to gathering the top sheet 9, the elastic threads 24, 25also lie against the wearer's body and therewith provide a sealingaction. This greatly reduces the risk of urine discharged by malewearers landing on the top sheet and running along said sheet instead ofpassing down through the forward opening 16. Because the threads extendalong the side edges of the openings 15, 16, the risk of the position ofthe openings 15, 16 changing due to external loads on the diaper, forinstance caused by movement of the wearer, is also reduced at the sametime. Another advantage is that if the absorbent body is pressed againstthe wearer's body by an externally acting load, it is more difficult forurine and faeces to leak over the edges of the openings 15, 16 and ontothe top sheet 9 and there mixing together. It has been found that inorder to achieve these sealing functions, the distance between the sideedges 18, 19 of the rear opening 15 at the center of the faecaldischarge point should not be greater than 6 cm and preferably less than5 cm. The length of the front edge of the opening 15 should not exceed 4cm.

From an absorption aspect, the side bodies 3, 4 are not joined to theremainder of the absorbent body 1 and form safety bodies which absorbliquid when the main absorbent body 2 becomes saturated or is unable toabsorb the fluid discharged for some other reason. In addition to thisfunction, the side bodies contribute towards the stability of the basinformed by contraction or gathering of the top sheet, and also preventthe whole of the main body from lying against the wearer's body when thediaper is subjected to an external load. The tubular body 26 may becomprised of liquid-impermeable or liquid-permeable material, and thesame material may be used as that from which the bottom sheet, the innercasing sheet or the top sheet are made.

Instead of a tubular body 26, which provides a two-wall barrier as shownin FIG. 3, it is possible to construct the barrier between the openings15, 16 from one single wall of flexible material which is mountedbetween the inner casing sheet and the top sheet in a folded or pleatedstate, for instance in a bellows-like state, and fastened to said sheetsin the same manner as the tubular body 26.

One such single-wall or sheet-like barrier 29 is shown in FIG. 6, whichis a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to the view of FIG. 3 ofa diaper comprising an absorbent body 30 enclosed between an outer andan inner casing sheet 31 and 32, and a top sheet 33 having a forward anda rearward opening 34 and 35 which are separated longitudinally by a topsheet region 36. The barrier 29 is comprised of a rectangular piece ofliquid-impermeable or liquid-permeable material, which is disposedbetween the top sheet and the inner casing sheet in a single-fold in thesame manner as that described earlier with reference to the tubular body26. In this Figure, the raising or unfolding of the material piece 29 asa result of the top sheet being gathered in the vicinity of the sideedges of the absorbent body and centrally between the side edges of theabsorbent body is indicated in dotted and full lines respectively, whileraising or unfolding of the material piece at a location between thesepositions is shown in broken lines.

It is also possible to form the barrier from folds in the inner casingsheet or in the top sheet as illustrated schematically in FIGS. 7-10,which illustrate center sections of the longitudinal sectional viewscorresponding to FIG. 6 of diapers constructed in the same manner as thediaper illustrated in FIG. 6. The inner casing sheet shown in FIG. 7includes two sheets 37, 38, of which the upper sheet 37 is folded andfastened to the bottom sheet 38 at least along two transversal joins 39,40, which may consist of continuous or intermittent glue or weld joinsand which are mutually spaced longitudinally. As will be seen from theFigure, which illustrates the configuration obtained when the top sheetis gathered or drawn together, the sheet 37 forms a U-shaped bodybetween the joins, having two side walls 41, 42 and an upper wall 43which is secured to the region 40' of the top sheet located between theopenings therein, preferably by gluing.

The barrier 44 illustrated in FIG. 8 differs from the barrier 41-43illustrated in FIG. 7 by virtue of the fact that the opposing parts ofthe fold formed in the inner casing sheet 45 have been mutually joinedalong the connections of the fold with the remainder of the casing sheet45, so as to form a tubular body of triangular cross-section when thetop sheet 46 is gathered or drawn together in that part of the foldwhich lies transversely central in and which is shown in this Figure.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a variant 47 of the fold 44 shown in FIG. 8,this variant differing from the fold 44 by virtue of the fact that thefold walls 48, 49 are glued together. FIG. 9 illustrates theconfiguration of the fold 47 in the manufacturing stage of the diaper,while FIG. 10 illustrates the fold 47 subsequent to gathering of thediaper top sheet. The fold is glued or welded to that region 50 of thetop sheet which lies between the top sheet openings.

Naturally, a barrier forming fold can be provided in the top sheetinstead of in the inner casing sheet, similar to the manner shown inFIGS. 8-10.

It will be understood that the described embodiment of the invention canbe modified within the scope of the invention. For instance, the shapesand dimensions of the openings in the top sheet can be varied,particularly with regard to the position of the mutually distal edges ofthe openings. The invention can, of course, be applied with diaperswhose absorbent body has a different construction and shape to thatdescribed, for instance rectangular absorbent bodies comprising one ormore absorbent layers. The invention can also be applied, of course,with so-called pant diapers, or training pants, and with incontinenceguards. The invention is therefore limited solely by the content of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An absorbent article with front and rear partsand a crotch part therebetween, the article comprising:an absorbent bodyextended longitudinally from the front part to the rear part of thearticle; a liquid-impermeable bottom sheet joined to a first side ofsaid absorbent body; a top sheet that lies proximal to a wearer's bodywhen the article is being worn, said top sheet having a first opening atthe front part of the article and a second opening at the rear part ofthe article, said first and second openings each having longitudinaledges and either a front or a rear part lateral edge, the longitudinaland lateral edges being spaced from a peripheral edge of said top sheet,and one crotch part lateral edge adjacent to a laterally extended bridgeof said top sheet, said top sheet being connected to said absorbent bodyon a second side of said absorbent body opposite said first side at aperiphery of said top sheet and at said bridge; elastic devices fastenedto said top sheet in a stretched state that separate said top sheet fromsaid absorbent body when contracted, except at said periphery of saidtop sheet; and a laterally aligned flexible member connected to said topsheet across said bridge and to said absorbent body adjacent the crotchpart to separate a space between said top sheet and said absorbent bodyinto a first pouch that opens at said first opening and a second pouchthat opens at said second opening.
 2. The absorbent article of claim 1,further comprising a liquid-permeable casing sheet joined to said secondside of said absorbent body, and wherein said top sheet is affixed tosaid casing sheet at said periphery of said top sheet.
 3. The absorbentarticle of claim 2, wherein said flexible member comprises a tubularbody having diametrically opposing sides affixed to said bridge of saidtop sheet and to said casing sheet.
 4. The absorbent article of claim 2,wherein said flexible member comprises a fold of said casing sheet thatis affixed to said bridge of said top sheet.
 5. The absorbent article ofclaim 2, wherein said flexible member comprises a single sheet affixedto said bridge of said top sheet and to said casing sheet.
 6. Theabsorbent article of claim 1, wherein said first opening is for beingpositioned adjacent a wetting point of the wearer and said secondopening is for being positioned adjacent a faecal discharge point of thewearer, when the article is being worn.
 7. The absorbent article ofclaim 1, wherein said first and second openings are narrower at saidbridge than adjacent the front and rear parts of the article.
 8. Theabsorbent article of claim 1, wherein said elastic devices are fastenedto said longitudinal edges of said first and second openings.
 9. Theabsorbent article of claim 1, wherein said flexible member comprises atubular body having diametrically opposing sides connected to saidbridge of said top sheet and said absorbent body at the crotch part ofthe article.
 10. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein saidabsorbent body comprises a longitudinally extended central body and twolaterally separated side bodies.
 11. The absorbent article of claim 10,further comprising a liquid-permeable casing sheet joined to said secondside of said absorbent body, and wherein said casing sheet is affixed tosaid bottom sheet at separations between said side bodies and saidcentral body.
 12. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein said frontand rear part lateral edges of said first and second openings are spacedfarther from longitudinal ends of the front and rear parts,respectively, than corresponding ends of said absorbent body.
 13. Anabsorbent article with front and rear parts and a crotch parttherebetween, the article comprising:an absorbent member having acentral body extended longitudinally from the front part to the rearpart of the article and two laterally separated side bodies; aliquid-impermeable bottom sheet joined to a first side of said absorbentmember; a liquid-permeable casing sheet joined to a second side of saidabsorbent member opposite said first side, said casing sheet beingaffixed to said bottom sheet at separations between said side bodies andsaid central body; a top sheet that lies proximal to a wearer's bodywhen the article is being worn, said top sheet having a first opening atthe front part of the article and a second opening at the rear part ofthe article, said first and second openings being separated by alaterally extended bridge of said top sheet at the crotch part of thearticle, said top sheet being affixed to said casing sheet at aperiphery of said top sheet and connected to said casing sheet at saidbridge; elastic devices fastened to said top sheet in a stretched statethat separate said top sheet from said casing sheet when contracted,except at said periphery of said top sheet; and a laterally alignedflexible member connected to said top sheet across said bridge and tosaid casing sheet adjacent the crotch part to separate a space betweensaid top sheet and said casing sheet into a first pouch that opens atsaid first opening and a second pouch that opens at said second opening.14. The absorbent article of claim 13, wherein said flexible membercomprises a tubular body having diametrically opposing sides affixed tosaid bridge of said top sheet and to said casing sheet.
 15. Theabsorbent article of claim 13, wherein said flexible member comprises afold of said casing sheet that is affixed to said bridge of said topsheet.
 16. The absorbent article of claim 13, wherein said flexiblemember comprises a single sheet affixed to said bridge of said top sheetand to said casing sheet.
 17. An absorbent article with front and rearparts and a crotch part therebetween, the article comprising:anabsorbent body; a top sheet that lies proximal to a wearer's body whenthe article is being worn, said top sheet having a first opening at thefront part of the article and a second opening at the rear part of thearticle, said first and second openings being separated by a bridge ofsaid top sheet, said top sheet being connected to said absorbent body ata periphery of said top sheet and at said bridge; a tubular body havingdiametrically opposing sides connected to said top sheet across saidbridge and to said absorbent body adjacent the crotch part to form afirst pouch that opens at said first opening and a second pouch thatopens at said second opening.
 18. The absorbent article of claim 17,wherein said first and second openings each have side edges and either afront or a rear part lateral edge, the side and lateral edges beingspaced from a peripheral edge of said top sheet, and one crotch partlateral edge adjacent to said bridge.
 19. The absorbent article of claim18, wherein said front and rear part lateral edges of said first andsecond openings are spaced farther from ends of the front and rearparts, respectively, than corresponding ends of said absorbent body.